Light-years from Me to You
by Kurosea
Summary: An unlikely partnership between an Enforcer and a Bounty Hunter leads the pair into a series of intergalatic scenarios. Space!AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, it's been a painfully long time since I actually did any writing. Anyway! I've been lurking around quite a bit and finally decided to change that with an upload yey /claps. Please do comment and review and stuff they make me happy.**

* * *

"The stars are beautiful today, aren't they?"

The purple-haired kid murmured as she laid her face against the cold windows of the space station, her palms right next to her face. A soft chuckle sounded out from behind, and footsteps announced the arrival of her friend.

"The stars are beautiful everyday, silly. We see them all the time."

The purple-haired girl pouted before turning around to face her blonde companion. "No! It's even more beautiful today, Erichii!" Eli merely laughed and sat down on the metallic platform next to her friend with a blasé smile on her face. Her eyes trailed out to the dark expanse outside the window, dotted by numerous glowing stars.

"You say that everyday, Nozomi."

* * *

"I have to —"

"Eli, I —"

An awkward pause. The two stared at each other silently before Eli cleared her throat.

"Um, you first, I guess?"

Hesitation flickered in the green-hued eyes before it glanced away from the other's piercing blues. Nozomi's hands were wrung together, and her brows furrowed. She took a deep breath before deciding to speak.

"Well, my parents… They decided that this Station isn't bringing in enough space truckers, pilots and all that. So, we'll be jumping to the next system. Around a few light years away. I'll be moving with them — but it's still nearby! So maybe I can visit you still…"

Eli simply smiled before shaking her head.

"It's fine, really. I understand. This area isn't really safe nowadays, with the space pirates lingering outside the safe zone of the station. Actually, what I wanted to say was that I'm moving to another system too. My father signed me up for cadet school. You know how he's like when it comes to law enforcement, always wanting me to work as an enforcer. He said that it was a good future for me," Eli said as she reached out to grasp onto her dear friend's hands. "We'll still keep in touch, right? I'd miss you terribly if we didn't."

Nozomi's cheeks coloured slightly. Eli was hardly someone so forward and brazen with her actions, but she didn't comment anything, settling on rubbing her thumbs across the knuckles of the blonde's and a reassuring nod to answer her question.

* * *

Eli left a few days later. Nozomi, a week after.

* * *

News spread of yet another attack outside Artemis Station. The other cadets all huddled together in the bunkers in front of the holographic screens, murmuring amongst themselves. Eli, however, was too busy nestling up in her bunk to bring herself to care. Her head ached with all the shouting and drilling her instructor had inflicted on her. Her physical body didn't fair much better, but it was all part of the job.

* * *

Blue eyes peered at her comms device. No notification, as per normal. Bitterly, she closed it.

_**Liar.**_

* * *

On the day Eli graduated, top of her class, she had to make a speech. She spoke of her dreams of a safer place, of her passion and her goals. Of her past.

A certain girl was never mentioned.

Her parents looked up at her with pride in their eyes. Eli returned the look with a firm nod. After the party, she looked out of the windows. The familiar expanse stared back at her. Nothing caught her eyes, and with that, she decided to rest.

* * *

"Officer Ayase, we require you to liaison with this certain pilot. A bounty hunter, of sorts. The pilot of Urania happens to know the area a lot better than we do, and the headquarters believe that cooperating with said bounty hunter would be the best way to eliminate the pirate threats near the Hermes Station."

The officer looked at her handler through the holographic screen before nodding in turn. "A sound plan. Send the bounty hunter a correspondence and arrange a meeting for us, then."

* * *

Of course a bounty hunter wanted to meet up in some intergalactic bar. It was tacky and cliché, but alas, the other pilot wouldn't agree to meet her unless it was in this location.

Eli warily looked around, her hands kept close to the holster of her plasma pistol. Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder, almost causing the blonde officer to jump.

"Would you like a fortune telling, free of charge?"

An eyebrow was raised but Eli turned around. Perhaps she could get some information out of this… Fortune teller. With a low hum, she nodded, only to find herself being pulled into a small covered booth.

The hooded figure before her leant forward and rested her arms on the cool metallic table. "I've never seen you around before, are you here on business? Or perhaps, to forget someone?"

"Business, of sorts. I'm waiting for somebody, actually."

A deck of tarot cards was pushed in front of her. Somehow, Eli couldn't help but to think that the design of the deck was familiar. As if she had seen it countless of times before.

When she looked up, she found herself looking into painfully familiar green eyes.

"You know, your eyes had always reminded me of the stars."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all your support! A little more character progression here + a flashback! I hope you enjoy! Also, Nozomi and Eli are in their 20s by now.**

* * *

Ayase Eli's first reaction was to kick the metallic table, pushing her chair back and away from the other. Her next reaction was the widening of her eyes, as the figurative gears in her mind whirred to live and pieced together the puzzle before her. Following that, she crossed her arms together and narrowed her eyes at the offending soul in front of her.

"Fancy seeing you here, Nozomi. Why'd I never expect you to be found in some shady bar giving free tarot readings," Eli lowly said to the green-eyed lady, distaste apparent in her tone. Nozomi merely gave a wry smile in response as she leant back against her own seat, clasping her hands together professionally. While she was a tad bit wounded by the biting remark of the Officer, she knew that she could hardly blame the blonde. The fault was hers after all – her broken promise did stain her thoughts rather often.

"Now, now Elicchi, you know my readings are rather accurate. You should be glad that you're getting them for free," was the smooth reply from Nozomi. Even now, she still had the wits to easily deflect any sort of jabs from her childhood friend. Her eyes never left the wary Officer's as she took a card from the top of the deck resting on the table and flipped it around. "The Moon," she said as she slid the card towards the blonde. "Befuddling isn't it? Perhaps you should stop jumping to conclusions and listen to people instead of being hostile."

Nozomi gave a cheeky smile as she leant forwards once more and rested her chin and the heel of her hand. "You do tend to do that whenever you're put in an uncomfortable situation, don't ya? You never do change, Elicchi!"

**_'Please don't ever change.'_**

* * *

_When the two first met, Eli didn't even bother to look at the lavender-haired girl, preferring to go back to her task of purchasing whatever her father required from the Toujou's family shop. It was a small quaint place tucked in at the corner of the station market place. While business was not booming, it was still keeping afloat, mostly due to the fact that they tended to import rare items from the other stations from time to time. _

_The daughter of the shopkeeper couldn't help but to remember the frequent customer. She had always wanted to talk to the other, but never got to it as the dreadful affliction known as 'shyness' had plagued her. Thus, she was contented with staying behind the counter, discreetly watching the blonde as she scuttled about the shop._

_One day, she couldn't help but to realise that the girl – Eli, she had learnt her name when the blonde's mother had called for her once when she lingered too long at the shop – seemed to be staring at something left on the stands outside of the store. Curious, Nozomi quietly walked out, only to see Eli staring intently at a glass case with a lone flower inside of it._

_Eli's brows were furrowed as she stared intently at the contents of the case. _

"_Can I help you?" _

_Nozomi didn't know whether to laugh or to cry at the words she had just blurted out without intending to do so, though she reckoned that a pat on her back was needed considering that she somehow did not stumble over her words, nor did she stutter. Eli, on the other hand, did not seem to take this all that nicely. She had taken two hasty steps back and away from the case, shaking her head vehemently._

"_No. It's none of your business, really."_

_A knowing smile was directed towards the blonde, who had her arms crossed defensively and her eyes stubbornly looking away from Nozomi, though her face was dusted with a bit of pink._

"_The flower is the Lily. It's pretty hard to get flowers nowadays. Space isn't a really good place for agriculture sadly…" Nozomi trailed off as she carefully picked the glass case up. "But we managed to import a few of these things here. Would you like one?"_

_Blue eyes slid over to where Nozomi was, hesistation apparent. But alas, the shake of a head was the response, accompanied by soft mutterings._

"_I… do not have the credits for it."_

_Nozomi grinned._

"_Here, you can have it, but you have to remember that you owe Nozomi Toujou!"_

* * *

_The flowers were never supposed to last, but Eli refused to let them go. The very same flower now sits in the commander's quarter of her ship, encased in ice._

* * *

Eli could only grit her teeth together as she openly glared at Nozomi. She didn't know whether to be glad or upset to see her friend – especially since said friend did bring back memories ranging from her happiest ones to her most bitter. With a soft sigh, she braced herself and looked back up at her childhood friend. "Please stop beating about the bush. What are you trying to tell me now?" Eli asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

The smile on Nozomi's face widened.

"You, of course!"

"What."

"Mhmm!"

"…Very funny Nozomi."

Nozomi faked an exaggerated wounded look. Exasperated, the Officer pushed herself off the seat, intending to simply walk back to her life, her job prior to her meeting with Nozomi. However, she was stopped by a firm grip on her hand, and she turned around to see Nozomi standing up, her hand reaching for Eli's. "I'm very serious, for once, actually," the lady of mystery sombrely murmured. Her voice soon grew stronger as she stared at the pale face of the blonde's. "I'm the person you are supposed to be meeting. The bounty hunter."

At those words, only a line entered the thoughts of the officer.

'_You have got to be shitting me.'_


	3. Chapter 3

**I was a little uncertain with this chapter since... it's kind of heavy on the spacey details, and like I said, this story is going to be a slow burn. It's gone through many edits and all, but I hope it's satisfactory!**

* * *

Inhale. Exhale. Deep breaths.

The mantra chanted in her head as Eli made herself comfortable in her ship. It was a 325A, usually given to whoever graduated at the top of the class. The 325A was part of the 300s series made by a rather new ships manufacturing company. What made 325A special was its interdiction ability. There weren't exactly any roads in space, so she had to rely on interdiction to intercept the many criminals hiding out in the system. It was her job as an Imperial Enforcer, after all. The blonde leant back against the soft cushions of the pilot's seat, staring out at the blue shielding covering the entrance of the station. Ships came and went – and an occasional ship or two got blown up outside the station for various reasons. Most likely having attempted the act of smuggling or having a murder crime on their head. As vast the dark expanse outside was, one could hardly escape from the hands of the law.

As she mused, the ship's system and computers continued running through standard start-up procedures while downloading the data-packs Nozomi had given her back in the bar. A beep sounded, and a message appeared on the glass of the cockpit. Eli's eyes darted up to read the message before rolling her eyes, a small smile found on her face.

**CMDR. TOUJOU: **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Of course this was a greeting expected from her companion. The Enforcer obviously did not expect anything less from the purple-haired friend of hers.

**CMDR. AYASE: **Really?

**CMDR. TOUJOU: **Mhmm. Anyway, did you install the Data? Don't lose them, you know! They're really hard to come by.

**CMDR. AYASE: **Yes, I did. By the way... How did you manage to get all those insider information?

**CMDR. TOUJOU: **Spiritual Power!

**CMDR. AYASE: **I'm being serious here…

**CMDR. TOUJOU: **Okay, okay. I'll show you. Here, I'll send you the co-ordinates to a station. I hope your ship is equipped for a long jump.

**CMDR. AYASE: **Worry not about me. Co-ordinates received. I'll meet you there?

**CMDR. TOUJOU: **Yep. Be careful when you re-enter from FSD though.

**CMDR. AYASE: **Noted. Thanks.

Eli turned off the comms line right after that and sighed. She honestly didn't know how Nozomi could act so casually with her after what she had done. Her fists clenched as she thought of how Nozomi could just… throw her away, as if she was disposable. Yet, it was nice talking to Nozomi again, even though it's been so long. The conflicting emotions in her only served to make her feel even more confused and slightly unnerved.

'No, not the time to think about this,' Eli thought, as she attempted to calm down and slowly unclenched her fists. To distract herself, she turned her head to the console on her left, tapping on the holographic screen. A encrypted communication line was established. Swiftly, a message was typed up.

**[ OFFICER AYASE REPORTING IN. TIME 17 56 HRS, 13 OCT 2455. CONTACT ESTABLISHED. HEADING TO AULOS STATION ]**

The message was soon sent. Satisfied, Eli quickly keyed in the co-ordinates of Aulos Station and began the pre-flight check, fiddling around with the controls a little bit. Her left hand pushed the throttle forward as her right pulled the flight-stick back, and the next thing she knew, she was zipping out of the station, narrowly dodging a Lakon squeezing through the very same entrance.

Once fully out of the station, she shifted the power all to her engines, quickly moving away from the station. It couldn't be helped, seeing how she was mass locked due to the immense size of the station behind her ship. The moment she hit a distance of 5 kilometer, the 'MASS-LOCKED' warning had turned off, and the officer quickly maxed out the throttle and activated FSD.

The robotic voice of the OS rang out around in the cockpit, a monotone voice going, "Frame Shift Drive Activating in 3, 2, 1." At the end of the countdown, Eli found herself experiencing the familiar feeling of being pressed against the seat as her hand fought to stablise the ship as it slipped into hyperspace cruise. The next thing she knew, she was hurtling through space, stars and planets slipping by her. She couldn't help but to note that Aulos Station was a significant distance away from the sun, and halfway through the journey, she found herself unnerved by how dark the area is.

**CMDR. TOUJOU:** The station is dark as it is meant to be hidden away.

Bothered by Nozomi's uncanny timing as well as her omitted information, Eli opted to ignore the message for a bit as she focused on the waypoint marker marked on the display of the cockpit. The blue lights did help light up her cockpit by a bit, but nothing more. She couldn't help but to give a wry smile as she thought, 'You'd think with all these advancements, people would consider installing lights into the cockpit.'

Technology could be charming, allowing one to travel more than 200 light years of distance within a matter of minutes – 11 minutes, to be specific. Slowly, she disengaged from hyperspace, finding herself right in front of Aulos Station, a humongous space station with plenty of unknown ships lingering about. A warning popped up, indicating her ship getting scanned. Eli narrowed her eyes, as she tried to discern which ship initiated that, but to no avail. Fighting her nervousness, the blonde looked to the console to her left, choosing to request docking from the station.

**[ DOCKING REQUEST DENIED ]**

Her eyebrows furrowed as she repeated her command.

**[ DOCKING REQUEST DENIED ]**

This was weird. She decided to shoot a message to her childhood friend.

**CMDR. AYASE:** I'm getting denied docking access.

**CMDR. TOUJOU:** They must be worried because of you.

**CMDR. AYASE:** Me?

**CMDR. TOUJOU**: Nevermind~. Try again now.

**CMDR. AYASE:** Okay…

She repeated the docking procedure, a little sceptical of whatever Nozomi had done.

**[ DOCKING REQUEST GRANTED. PLEASE HEAD TO DOCK 4 ]**

Did her companion have some sort of power within this station, she couldn't help but to wonder. Even so, how did she manage to land herself in such an obscure station with shady pilots flying about all the time?

_'__The Nozomi I know isn't the Nozomi now.' _

It hurt her, but it was painfully true. And the fact that Commander Toujou was not open with her wounded her a tad bit, not that she was going to voice and complaints to said person anytime soon.

As she mulled upon depressing thoughts, Eli set up her docking computer as her ship automatically drifted towards Dock 4. Smoothly, her ship landed and locked into place. She felt her ship being brought into the station – a familiar falling feeling. Once cleared, she quickly unbuckled her seat belt (which still exists due to how helpful it was). With the press of a button, the hatch of the cockpit opened up and she pulled her helmet off her head, giving it a little flip before resting it on the flight stick in front of her. She gracefully leapt out of her ship, only to see Nozomi standing near the docks with a smile on her face.

Nozomi took a step back and spread her arms.

"Welcome to Aulos Station, home to the bounty hunters of the universe."

* * *

**Well, that's that! Next chapter, bounty crew! **

**Also, a bit of shameless promo here: If you guys would like more details about this story, it's actually based off Star Citizen and Elite:Dangerous universe. Y'all can follow my tumblr, which URL is the same as my penname. I reblog a lot of LL! stuff as well as all these Space stuff.**


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